Now, I’m not a Toronto Personal Injury Lawyer, but I thought it would be worthwhile to talk about minor auto accidents and when you could use an Auto Accident Settlement and Release Agreement.  Please keep in mind that this information is not legal advice.  Laws are subject to change without notice.  If you need legal assistance with a personal injury matter, consult a lawyer (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

OK, so you’ve gotten into a minor fender bender in Ontario and you’re not sure where you LEGALLY stand, eh?  Let’s go through it together, shall we?  Now, we start off with the Ontario Highway Traffic Act.  Section 199(1) of that Act says that every person who is in charge of a car involved in an accident MUST, if the accident resulted in personal injury or in damage APPARENTLY EXCEEDING a SET AMOUNT, REPORT the accident to the police.  OK, so what if there is no personal injury?  Move on to the property damage…  You need to see what the regulations prescribe to be the SET AMOUNT.  If the damage to all of the vehicles involved in an accident is more than this SET AMOUNT, then you have a duty to report this accident to the police.   Turning to s. 11 of the General Regulations made under that Act reveals that the SET AMOUNT is $1,000.  OK…so what if the property damage is less than $1,000?  Well, then there’s no legal obligation on you to report it to the police.  But what about your insurance? Dum-da-dum-dum!

Well, we first turn to the Ontario Insurance Act.  Section 234 of that Act says that there are mandatory CONDITIONS which must be part of every auto-insurance contract.  The auto-insurance contract is your insurance policy.  It’ll say things like when you need to report an accident and what kind of deductible you need to pay before the insurance steps in to cover the rest.  A deductible is a set amount of money you agree to pay (e.g. $500, $1,000, etc.) before the insurance company pays the rest up to the policy limits.  There’s a section in the Act that says that every auto-insurance contract must carry a limit of at least $200,000 for liability resulting from bodily injury or death to people and loss / damage to property: section 251(1).  This is basically the “YOU MUST HAVE MANDATORY AUTO-INSURANCE COVERAGE OF $200K” in Ontario law.  That was just an aside.  Now back to business.  Section 258.1(1) of the Act says that, if you have auto-insurance and are involved in an accident that is REQUIRED (see above) to be reported to police under the Highway Traffic Act, then you must ALSO tell your insurance company of the accident.  Importantly, you must do so WITHIN 7 (yes, seven) days of the incident!

Now, turning to the Statutory Conditions Regulation (i.e. the conditions that are required to be in every automobile policy according to the Insurance Act), section 5(1) says that an insured person MUST give to the insurer written notice of ANY accident involving loss or damage to persons or property AND of any claim made on account of the incident.    It’s interesting to note that you also mustn’t settle any claim unless you do so at your own cost: section 5(2)(a).  Furthermore, section 6(1) says that, where loss of or damage to your car occurs, if the loss is covered by your automobile policy, then you must notify your insurance.  So what is the effect of these and other statutory conditions?  It seems to be a bit gray to me.  On the one hand, if there’s an obligation on you to report EVERY accident (even the ones you’ll pay for through your deductible) under your auto-insurance policy with the insurance company, then failing to report is a breach of that contract.  It could result in them not insuring you if things go out of hand (i.e. personal injuries result, property damage greater than $1,000, you get sued, etc.).  On the other hand, if a person was involved in a minor fender bender that didn’t result in personal injury or total property damage over $1,000, and reporting it will only result in them paying the deductible and having their premiums going UP, then that person will likely not want to report the accident at all.  They’d rather take their chances outside of the insurance system.  This is a risk that many people take on a daily basis.  I’m not condoning or recommending either approach.  This is a personal decision whether you want to avoid your contractual obligations. Auto-insured be ware! That said, if you do want to settle a minor fender bender out of your own pocket, document this settlement and obtain a release of liability from future claims (if only one part was at fault), it’s best to have an:

Auto Accident Settlement and Release Agreement (One-Sided)

The “One-Sided” at there’s only One party at fault and only that party wants a release (in exchange for paying). If both parties may have been at fault, then you can use an Auto Accident Settlement and Release Agreement (Mutual). Here’s the sample Video Guide that comes with this Auto-Accident Settlement and Release Agreement (One-Sided):

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Toronto Personal Injury Lawyers: this is part 2 of a series of blog posts I’m writing about what they can do for you.  In this blog, I’ll be discussing dog bites in Ontario. Note: this isn’t legal advice and if you need a Toronto Personal Injury or Accident Lawyer, make a post on Dynamic Lawyers.

Under the Dog Owners’ Liability Act, the owners of a dog is liable for damages resulting from a bit or attack by the dog on another person or domestic animal: section 2(1).  The extent of the liability does not depend on the knowledge or propensity of the dog or fault or negligence of the owner: section 2(3).  But if the injured person was negligent and that negligence caused part or all of their injuries, then the court may reduce their damages in proportion to the degree of their negligence which caused those damages: section 2(3).  Interestingly, if a person gets bitten by a dog while trying to commit a crime, then the dog owner will NOT be liable UNLESS keeping the dog on the premises was unreasonable for the purpose of protecting persons or property.

Court Action: Provincial Offence
Court action can be taken by a Toronto personal injury or accident lawyer in the Ontario Court of Justice if a person violated the Act.  Also, a proceeding may be brought in the Ontario Court of Justice if it is alleged that (among other things) the dog bit or attacked a person or another domestic animal, the dog behaved in a menacing way to another person or animal, or that the owner did not exercise reasonable precautions to prevent the dog from doing either of those things.

Remedies
In addition to having to pay for damages, a court can order a dog-owner to take specific measures to have more effective control of the dog or for purposes of public safety.  The court can also that the dog be destroyed: section 4(1).

Caselaw
In R. v. Brenhouse (2004 ONCJ 286) (Ont. C.J.), two dogs attacked and injured a person in separate incidents.  The owner of the dog was convicted under the Act and an order that both dogs be destroyed and that the owner be prohibited from having dogs for 5 years.  The decision was appealed and the Ontario Court of Justice held that the orders were reasonable, appropriate and disclosed no error.

Remember: if you have been injured in a dog bite and need to speak with a Toronto Personal Injury Lawyer, make a post on Dynamic Lawyers.

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Need a Toronto personal injury or medical malpractice lawyer?  Then look no further than Howard Blitstein.  Here is a profile report for Toronto personal injury and malpractice lawyer, Howard Blitstein of Howie, Sacks &  Henry LLP.  In this profile report, Howard talks about how personal injury law is different from other practice areas, how trial are great learning opportunities, and how lawyers can develop good lawyering skills.  You can read the full profile report here:

written by admin \\ tags: find medical malpractice lawyer toronto, howard blitstein, toronto medical malpractice lawyer, toronto personal injury lawyer

Dynamic Lawyers has just issued a profile report about Toronto personal injury and malpractice lawyer, Howard Blitstein of Howie, Sacks &  Henry LLP.  In this profile report, Howard talks about how personal injury law is different from other practice areas, how trial are great learning opportunities, and how lawyers can develop good lawyering skills.  You can read the full profile report here:

written by admin \\ tags: Dynamic Lawyers, Howard, howard blitstein, Sacks & Henry LLP, toronto medical malpractice lawyer, toronto personal injury lawyer

Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.   If you need legal advice with respect to retaining attorneys of civil law, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Ontario civil law attorneys registered on the website who can assess your situation and, if need be, represent you in court proceedings or help settle your case.

Attorneys Civil Law
Civil law is all about parties suing each other for damages and other types of relief.  It can be distinguished from criminal law, where the state prosecutes individuals for breaking criminal laws.  Attorneys for civil law are trained on how to start a lawsuit, advance the lawsuit towards trial (e.g. through documentary and oral discovery), and then finally plead the case at trial towards ultimate resolution (i.e. unless the case settled somewhere down the road).

Limitation Period
One of the very first things attorneys of civil law will assess is whether there the case is statute-barred due to the passage of time.  Essentially, this means that if a person was injured and then, many years later, wants to bring a claim against the party that injured them, they may be end up automatically losing in court because they took too long.  In Ontario, for example, civil law attorneys will point to the Ontario Limitations Act, 2002 (which came into effect January 1, 2004), which generally provides that you have 2 years from the date you discovered (or ought to have discovered) your injury to commence a lawsuit.  If you try to bring a lawsuit thereafter, the opposing side can bring a motion for summary judgment on the basis that your claim is statute barred under the Act.

Typical Types of Civil Law Claims
The most popular civil law claims have to do with breaches of contract, negligence, misrepresentation (either negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, or innocent misrepresentation), defamation in the form of slander (spoken) or libel (written) and personal injury (e.g. you were injured in a car accident, a slip and fall, ill-treatment by doctors or health care professionals, or injured by a defective product).

Costs in a Civil Case
Unlike in the U.S., in Ontario, if you end up losing your case, you could have to pay for the other side’s legal fees (which may be exuberant!).  This is a large deterrent to not starting lawsuits in Ontario.  While judges have the discretion to award damages for legal fees to whichever party they see fit (or order no costs at all), they typically tend to reward the winning party by having the losing party pay for their legal fees on either a full (substantial) or partial indemnity basis.

written by admin \\ tags: attorneys civil law, attorneys for civil law, civil law attorneys, typical cases of civil law claims

Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.   If you need legal advice with respect to retaining a personal injury attorney, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Ontario personal injury attorneys registered on the website who can assess your situation and, if need be, represent you in court proceedings or help settle your case.

Personal Injury Attorneys: who are they?
A personal injury attorney is trained to represent parties (e.g. individuals, corporations, partnerships, etc.) in a civil dispute.   In civil cases, unlike criminal cases (where the state or government is the party that is prosecuting an accused person), one or more parties sue each other and the state is typically not a party to the proceedings.

What Personal Injury Attorneys can do for you
Some of the things which personal injury attorneys can assist you in include (but are not limited to) the following:

1. Determining and advising you on your rights and whether you have a claim (e.g. for damages, for declaratory relief, for an injunction, for equitable remedies, etc.).
2. Explain the civil law process from the time you believe a claim arises through to trial, and finally to a court order and (perhaps) appealing a court order (if it gets there).
3. Negotiating with the opposing counsel to reach a settlement.
4. At trial, challenge witness’ credibility and testimony.
5. At trial, present expert evidence in the form of expert testimony and reports that are favourable to their client.
6. At trial, point out past cases (called precedents) that are in their client’s favour and draw analogies and parallels, while trying to distinguish unfavourable precedents.
7. At trial, protect their clients from answering inappropriate or irrelevant questions (e.g. questions that would tend to self-incriminate a party, questions which have nothing to do with the trial, or questions which makes the party give testimony which they are not competent or otherwise qualified to give, etc.).

The onus of proof
In Ontario civil trials, parties must generally establish the elements of their case on a balance of probabilities.  This means 50% + 1 %.  Hence, to establish that a party was negligence or breached a contract, it must establish that that party was more likely than not to have done so.   If, however, the elements of the offence are established, then a judge or jury may still find no liability or reduce damages accordingly if the other party had some type of justification or excuse (e.g. undue influence, duress, etc.).

When to consult with or hire a Personal Injury Attorney?
Immediately on becoming aware of the fact that you have been injured or suffered damages, you should consult with a personal injury attorney.  They can help take away your stress by explaining the law (e.g. your rights, your obligations, your entitlements, etc.), helping to formulate a proper strategy, and telling you about how the civil law process works from start to finish.  Again, if you need legal advice with respect to retaining a Toronto personal injury attorney, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

written by admin \\ tags: personal injury attorney, personal injury attorneys

Please keep in mind that this is not legal advice.  The information provided herein is for educational purposes only. If you would like to get in touch with a lawyer to determine whether you have a case worth pursuing, then you are encouraged to seek a professional (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

So the media today is focusing on an unfortunate guy in Calgary named Adrian Lee who had the disgusting experience (if you believe what he’s saying) of chewing on a beetle while trying to enjoy a Tim Horton’s chili two weeks ago.  He heard and felt a crunch in his mouth and spit up what he believes are the remains of a 2 inch long beetle!  Here’s the CBC video link.  While Adrian Lee wasn’t looking for compensation (but merely an apology and acknowledgment from Tim Horton’s), it’s worth looking into the legal implications of situations like these which are (unfortunately) not uncommon.

I’ve previously discussed the legal implications of what you can do when you find a fly in your soup, but it’s worth repeating here.  In these situations, you may be able to sue based on a store/restaurant/manufacturer’s negligence or a breach of their contract with you (i.e. you didn’t get what you bargained for). There are a number of questions that you must typically answer before a lawyer can tell you whether you have a worthwhile case to sue for either of these grounds. For example: did you suffer monetary damages by missing work? Did you go to the hospital and have to pay for medication? Did this experience make you lose any money at all (other than the cost of the drink you likely threw away)? Did this experience cause you to have a psychiatric injury (e.g. nervous shock, emotional distress, a major depressive disorder with associated phobia and anxiety)? Basically, if you sue, a judge will want to know what your damages are in order to award you with something if liability has been found. If you haven’t really suffered any tangible damages, then it’s not worth suing because you won’t get anything.

The importance of establishing damages in these types of cases was reiterated recently by the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of Mustapha v. Culligan of Canada Ltd. Basically, in that case, a person sued a company for psychiatric injury after witnessing a fly in a water bottle. The Supreme Court held that the there was no negligence or breach of contract because the person could not establish that his damage was caused in law by the defendant’s negligence (i.e. the damages were “too remote” to allow recovery).

Each case is different, but at the end of the day, success will depend on what the damages are and whether it was foreseeable that a person of ordinary fortitude would suffer serious injury from, for example, drinking something and finding an insect in it.

written by admin \\ tags: adrian lee, calgary man chews on beetle in tim hortons chili, emotional distress, fly in the water bottle, major depressive disorder, monetary damages, nervous shock, tim horton, unfortunate guy

Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.   If you need legal advice with respect to retaining an Ottawa personal injury lawyer or attorney, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Ottawa personal injury lawyers and attorneys registered on the website who can assess your situation and, if need be, represent you in court proceedings or help settle your case.

Personal Injury Lawyers in Ottawa: who are they?
A personal injury lawyer or attorney is trained to represent parties (e.g. individuals, corporations, partnerships, etc.) in civil disputes.  In civil cases, unlike criminal cases (where the state or government is the party that is prosecuting an accused person), one or more parties sue each other and the state is typically not a party to the proceedings.

What Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys can do for you
Some of the things which personal injury lawyers in Ottawa can assist you in include (but are not limited to) the following:

1. Determining and advising you on your rights and whether you have a claim (e.g. for damages, for declaratory relief, for an injunction, for equitable remedies, etc.).
2. Explain the civil law process from the time you believe a claim arises through to trial, and finally to a court order and (perhaps) appealing a court order (if it gets there).
3. Negotiating with the opposing counsel to reach a settlement.
4. At trial, challenge witness’ credibility and testimony.
5. At trial, present expert evidence in the form of expert testimony and reports that are favourable to their client.
6. At trial, point out past cases (called precedents) that are in their client’s favour and draw analogies and parallels, while trying to distinguish unfavourable precedents.
7. At trial, protect their clients from answering inappropriate or irrelevant questions (e.g. questions that would tend to self-incriminate a party, questions which have nothing to do with the trial, or questions which makes the party give testimony which they are not competent or otherwise qualified to give, etc.).

The onus of proof
In Ontario civil trials, parties must generally establish the elements of their case on a balance of probabilities.  This means 50% + 1 %.  Hence, to establish that a party was negligence or breached a contract, it must establish that that party was more likely than not to have done so.   If, however, the elements of the offence are established, then a judge or jury may still find no liability or reduce damages accordingly if the other party had some type of justifcation or excuse (e.g. undue influence, duress, etc.).

When to consult with or hire an Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyer?
Immediately on becoming aware of the fact that you have been injured or suffered damages, you should consult with a personal injury lawyer in Ottawa.  They can help take away your stress by explaining the law (e.g. your rights, your obligations, your entitlements, etc.), helping to formulate a proper strategy, and telling you about how the civil law process works from start to finish.  Again, if you need legal advice with respect to retaining an Ottawa personal injury lawyer, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

written by admin \\ tags: incriminate, irrelevant questions, lawyers in ottawa, personal injury lawyer, personal injury lawyers, witness credibility

Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.   If you need legal advice with respect to retaining a personal injury lawyer, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Toronto personal injury lawyers registered on the website who can assess your situation and, if need be, represent you in court proceedings or help settle your case.

Slip and fall law in Ontario is based on negligence law – i.e. a property owner was careless in doing something or failing to do something that ultimately caused injury and damages to another party.  This “something” may have been a failure to remove snow and ice from a walkway, spilled liquid on the floor, fix a hole or gap in the ground, or provide insufficient lighting in and around widely-used public areas.  In what is to follow, I’ll shed some light on some of the major considerations that go into slip and fall cases:

Duty of Care
Did the property owner owe you a duty to take care in the circumstances to do something or refrain from doing something to make the property safe (e.g. so as to prevent a slip and fall from happening)?  This so-called “duty of care” is a legal obligation on an party to adhere to a standard of care (discussed next), the breach of which may create liability for that party.  The Ontario Occupiers’ Liability Act supersedes the common law or judge made law duty of care and imposes a statutory duty of care on property owners as follows (s. 3(1)):

An occupier of premises owes a duty to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that persons entering on the premises, and the property brought on the premises by those persons are reasonably safe while on the premises.

Standard of Care
Now that it has been established that a property owner has a duty to make their premises safe for people entering and while on those premises, the next step is to determine whether the property owner breached the standard of care through their conduct (i.e. actions or omissions).  Generally, property owners are held to a standard of care that would be expected of a reasonable property owner of ordinary intelligence and prudence in their circumstances.  Examples of negligence in slip and fall cases may include: failing to remove snow and ice from a roadway, failing to clean up spilled liquids on the ground, failing to fix uneven walkways, etc.

Causation
Even if a property owner owed a duty of care and breached the standard of care required, they may not be liable if their negligence did not cause the injuries complained of.  The general rule in Ontario is: ‘but for’ the party’s negligence (in other words, if the party’s negligence did not exist), would the injured party have suffered his/her/its damages and injuries resulting from the slip and fall?  Here, the injured party must demonstrate that, more likely than not, the property owner’s conduct was necessary for the occurrence of the injuries from the slip and fall.  Hence, if it cannot be ascertained as probable that the property owner’s negligence caused the injuries complained of, then the negligent property owner may not be ultimately liable.

Remoteness
Even if a property owner owed a duty of care, breached the standard of care, and caused the complaining party’s damages, that property owner  may still not be liable if those damages were too remote.  This means that the property owner is only liable for damages so long as the type of injury suffered was foreseeable as a probable consequence of the negligent act or was reasonably foreseeable as a real possibility.  The idea behind this rule is that it would be unfair to make a negligent party bear all of the consequences of his/her/it’s carelessness – especially when a moment’s inadvertence results in trivial or freakish consequences.

Defences
Even if a property owner is negligent (based on all of the factors outlined above being met), they may still have a defence that will either limit or negate their liability entirely.  Such defence include contribution (i.e. the injured party contributed to their own slip and fall accident by wearing flip flops on a cold and icy day with no grip), voluntary assumption of risk (e.g. the injured party had signed a waiver of liability in favour of the property owner) or illegality (e.g. the injured party was doing something illegal at the time of the slip and fall – e.g. breaking and entering, etc.).

written by admin \\ tags: attorneys, court proceedings, duty of care, gap, legal obligation, negligence law, occupier, personal injury lawyer, personal injury lawyers, professional assistance, property owner, property owners, public areas, refrain from doing something, slip and fall, slips and falls, snow and ice, statutory duty, toronto personal injury, walkway

Mesothelioma law firms specialize in representing, litigating, and resolving disputes involving mesothelioma.  Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. This disease causes malignant cells to develop in the mesothelium – a protect lining that covers most of the body’s internal organs (source: Wikipedia.org).

Mesothelioma law firms have lawyers who are trained and experienced in dealing with scientific and medical issues that arise in asbestos exposure lawsuits.  The plaintiffs in these actions are typically construction workers who have been exposed to asbestos over a long period of time.   There is a latency issue in that exposure to ariborne asbestos particles may not result in any appearance of mesothelioma until much later after the first expsoure occurs).

Mesothelioma law firms typically represent the following individuals and groups:

• Asbestos insulators
• Brick layers
• Boilermakers
• Carpenters
• Chemical plant works
• Iron workers
• Labourers
• Pipeffitters
• Plasterers
• Power plant workers
• refienery workers
• Sewer installers
• Sheet metal works
• Shipyward workers
• Tile layers

If you need help finding the right Toronto mesothelioma law firm to answer your questions or handle your case, then make a post on Dynamic Lawyers.  It’s free, easy, anonymous and local lawyers will respond to you with information and quotes.  For more information about mesothelioma in the U.S., you can go to MesotheliomaLawyersHelp.com, a very informative and helpful web resource about mesothelioma.

Finally, as noted in the comment below, if you are a worker covered under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, then you won’t be able to sue your employer for injuries or damages as a result – rather, your remedies will be made available through the Workplace Safety Insurance Act regime (that’s why workers pay WSIB premiums).  It’s a no fault insurance for those covered under the Act.

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